Bill Russell played as big a part in helping tackle racial inequalities as any athlete ever has and his impact cannot be understated in any possible way. He wasn’t the one to kickstart this all, however, as it was Jackie Robinson who first broke the color barrier by becoming the first African-American to play in the MLB in the modern era in 1947.
While Russell considered Robinson to be a hero, he felt he needed to take a stronger approach than Jackie had done. He felt that while Robinson took them to a certain point by breaking that barrier, he had to go harder with his actions and be more outspoken, to reach a point beyond that. He explained the thought process behind his approach in an interview titled Mr. Russell’s House.
(starts at 27:15 mark):
“Jackie Robinson was a hero to all of us. I would let you know that I was a pallbearer at Jackie Robinson’s funeral and I had enormous respect for him. But my attitude was that Jackie took us from Point A to Point B. I wanted to go from Point B to Point C. It was my inheritance from Jackie to do things to seize an opportunity.”
Later on in the interview, he recounted how he led a boycott of an NBA exhibition game because of how KC Jones was treated at the hotel they were in.
“We were booked to play a game in Lexington Kentucky. KC went down to the restaurant in the hotel we were staying and they would not serve him. I decided and the other guys decided to go along with me to not to play. So I told Red we were leaving. I said because it’s important to me that everybody everywhere knows that the black players decided they’ll stand up for themselves.”
That was the right approach too, as his sterner actions did lead to some change down the road. That boycott in 1961 was also the first time that players had taken that step and they sent a clear message that day, that they would be standing up for themselves.
This was just one of many instances of racism that they had to endure during their time in the league, with Russell’s daughter also recounting how rough life was like for her father off the court. It speaks to his perseverance and determination to cause a change in society that Russell succeded in life and he has deservedly gone down as one of the more influential athletes ever.
